Next message: Dr. Gordon Anderson: "lv-ab: Marinas in Ensenada, MX"
Norm, glad to hear you made it safely to Belhaven. What a great place to be
stranded...in 2001 I was cruising down the coast from RI on my way to
Savannah in an old Chris Craft Roamer and had numerous problems with
steerage and oil leaks into the bilge due to a rusted oil pan. When I
arrived at River Forest I rented one of the rooms for the night. It had a
6' claw foot tub that I soaked in for an hour and slept better than I had in
years. The staff were just as accommodating by serving food from a closed
kitchen. The breakfast was wonderful and everyone was friendly and eager to
serve.
A great experience just like yours. They let us use a golf cart to tour the
town for free.
Bob Clinkenbeard
24' custom trailer trawler
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-aboardbobbinalong
> All,
>
> We were just about to make the turn north to start the last leg of the
> river approaching the southern end of the Alligator-Pungo canal when the
> main engine made a surge then stopped.
>
> At first I suspected the secondary fuel filter had some sort of
> catastrophic failure since when turning on the electric fuel pump the
> gauges showed 7 psi, the maximum output of the pump. The engine sputtered
> a bit but refused to run when I hit the starter. So I changed the
> secondary, this brought the fuel pressure down to about 3 psi but the
> engine still sputtered and would not start, while white smoke poured out
> of
> the air intake too. I was scared. I removed the air intake ducts and saw
> that the blower rotors were not moving when I bumped the starter so I knew
> where the problem was. We were dead in the water.
>
> I sent up a silent and very sincere prayer of thanks that it had not
> happened during the previous three day's offshore run from Fernandina
> Beach
> to Morehead City.
>
> I went back topside to check our position and found we were drifting into
> good water. I rigged the trailing dinghy into the davits but still in the
> water. I rigged lines tying the bow and stern of the dinghy to the side
> deck holding it close to the hull. I rigged a line from the inboard stern
> dinghy lifting eye to a cleat on the corner of the big boat's transom.
> Then I lashed the outboard tiller arm amidships, started the motor, and
> put
> it in gear.
>
> Bandersnatch started moving toward the channel but almost immediately we
> ran aground. I unfastened the dinghy and used it to push at the bow of
> Bandersnatch until I got it off the mud.
>
> I relashed the dinghy and this time got Bandersnatch into the channel. We
> settled down on course for Belhaven at 3.5 knots.
>
> I suspected the "spring pack" had failed because I had read somewhere long
> ago that it was a spare Detroit Diesel motor owners should carry.
>
> We arrived in Belhaven and anchored around sundown. The next day I
> investigated the problem and discovered the blower drive shaft had
> shattered into four pieces. This shaft is 6 1/2" long with splined ends
> 3/4" diameter. I was lucky to find all four pieces. The shaft connects a
> drive gear driven by the gear train that turns the camshafts to one rotor
> of the blower. The two rotors are connected together by a pair of gears,
> one on the end of each rotor. The second gear drives the governor
> weights.
> The shaft is enclosed by a metal piece that looks like it might have been
> intentionally made to contain the pieces of a broken shaft rather than
> let
> them fall into the gear train and cause catastrophic damage to the gears.
> Very clever if so, and another prayer of thanks went up.
>
> We called the Detroit dealer in Jacksonville and he is FedEx'ing a new
> shaft to us via the marina here. We should be underway tomorrow.
>
> Jan and I went ashore last night to the marina at the River Forest Manor
> to
> celebrate our eleventh anniversary. We were picked up at the dock in a
> golf cart and carried on a very short ride to the Big House. There we met
> the owner, Axson, who told us the kitchen was closed but he would ask
> Carmen to open the bar. We got our drinks and started looking around when
> a group of five men arrived asking about local restaurants. Axson told
> them about a couple but then said that if they wished he would open the
> kitchen for us.
>
> We then started a memorable dinner. Our new friends were all very
> interesting, my favorite being a ship's pilot for Ft. Lauderdale! The
> guys
> wanted to watch the season closer of The Sopranos so tables were set up
> facing the TV. Carmen and her daughter Nichole began doing their magic in
> the galley and soon a series of delicious dishes began to appear, starting
> off with one of the best salads I have ever had at any restaurant (all of
> us cleaned our plates!) soon followed by shrimp, ribs, veggies, baked
> potatoes, stuffed mushrooms and finished off with apple pie with ice
> cream.
> Wow! What a wonderful time we had. Highly Recommended.
>
> www.riverforestmarina.com
>
> The Manor itself is a wonder. Construction started in 1899 and finished
> in
> 1904. Italian craftsmen were called in to carve the ornate ceilings.
> With
> lead glass windows, crystal chandeliers, tapestries, the house was
> ornately
> decorated in the Victorian manner. We went on the tour and were
> astonished
> at the beauty of the place.
>
> So with a little luck our new shaft will arrive tomorrow and in due time
> we
> will continue on our way to Norfolk. We are still open to visitors when
> we
> arrive there.
>
>
>
> Norm
> S/V Bandersnatch
> Broken Down in Belhaven
>
>
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